It twas a good week here in the Cambs. Blessed with a week full of beautiful weather and sunshine. Enjoying every second of it while it lasts before darkness strikes and doesn't leave until spring...
Moves just came out and Elder Allen and I will both be staying for another 7 weeks. It's a longer transfer due to a meeting President has in Spain next week. That'll bring us right up to December 11th! Exciting times. The other Elder Allen in Bury is leaving, but all that matters is my favorite human, Elder Poulsen, is staying...love that kid!
We did some family history with Nayland this week to start finding some ancestors so once he's baptised this Sunday he can prepare to go to the temple!!! He is so awesome and such a good guy. We also made another trip out to Ely to teach this guy named Chris who was taught years ago. He's looking to grow closer yo Christ and wants to try again. He smokes, but missionaries have helped him quit in the past, so that's exciting! We will be seeing him tomorrow.
Nayland also had us over for dinner on Wednesday night which was awesome. He made a nice roast dinner for us and is just such a funny guy! Love being around him!
Thursday was a busy day. We had district meeting and it was sister Kallenborns funeral before she flies back home tomorrow! It was a great meeting. We went straight from there to do some service for less active member. We've been doing service every week for her for the past couple weeks now. She's so nice. Then it was back to the senior couples, Elder and sister Call, flat for dinner and institute. Quite a good day. We've also been working a lot with an inactive member enamed Fatima who's only 18 and was baptized about two years ago. She's been coming yo FHE and institute with us which has been aweosme to see. She even came to sports night Friday!
Sports night is the best thing ever. Not only is it a blast but we are seeing so many miracles from it. I mean just look at Nayland! He's been coming for about a year now and he's getting baptized Sunday as a result of it. It's definitely a day I look forward to!
Saturday we had service in the morning at a cemetery them the afternoon was spent in Ipswich at stake conference! It was so great and very spirit filled. Lots of good messages about Christ centered homes and all that good stuff coming from conference. We spent the night in Colchester with the zone leaders. One of them loves family guy as do we all, but the quote of the night would have to be "Hey whale the oceans the other way!" Always good times with them.
Sunday was great as well. President and sister Checketts were at Conference and I love them so much. They are literally the best people ever. We've had some disagreements with our bishop lately and President was just roasting him and backing us up and it was so great because we really needed it and to see him do that meant a lot! He's such a stud. And his wife is hilarious as well. She asked me to make a video for zone conferences in two weeks for the whole mission to see. Not sure who she thinks I am but that'll be interesting to say the least. Gotta break out the creativity side! I'll keep ya updated on that!
Mainly just focussed on Nayland this upcoming week to make sure everything is good to go. So excited for him and it should be a great Sunday! Love that man. Stat tuned next weeks for pics. Love you all!
With love,
Elder Hruby
Monday, October 22, 2018
Monday, October 15, 2018
Week 36: Off Roadin' and Karaoke (Cambridge)
Well after a lovely summer and a great fall the English weather is finally coming back... The gloom and cold has just started coming in this week. Let the winter months begin and the long nights commence!
Bad news first. You probably won't be hearing much about Yasmin anymore because she dropped us on Thursday which was really devastating. It was really hard hearing that and losing her after all the time, effort, and love spent on her, but people still have their agency after all. The bright side is we have been teaching a guy named Nayland with the sisters who is a result of our sports night here! He is looking super solid for Baptism on the 28th! He quit smoking and drinking for over two weeks now. He is such a nice guy and he even brought his 9 year old son to church with him this week! Love that guy.
We were driving out to a village called Ely, which is the most Northern part of our area/mission, to do some stop bys. One of the roads was closed so we tried to navigate around it and our SAT-NAV ended up taking us on some grass road through some private property and then onto some dirt roads as well. Our car got stuck once and not really sure how it made it out in one piece but it was quite the experience!
On Saturday night we had a Dinner to go to with a member, but it was really just a going away party for a member we were invited to. At first it was just us there with a bunch of old ladies and it felt like we were at a book club haha. Eventually a group of Filipinos showed up which made it more fun. Then after we ate the member broke out a Karaoke machine! I was like no way is this happening right now! Sure enough it was a reality! Everybody was singing! The member leaving was from Brazil and she is like 60 and crazy and was like if you love me you will sing, so I couldn't let her down. I sang my go to song for Karaoke... If I ain't Got You by Alicia Keys. She was very happy. Most of the Filipinos there were also nonmembers and loved that we seemed like normal missionaries and the majority of them came to church on Sunday! It was definitely a success and good fun as well.
Elder Hollands talk from General Conference has really left a mark on me. I keep listening to it and I keep thinking the same thing over and over everytime I hear it and that is how much I love and appreciate my family. It goes even deeper than that. It has made me appreciate my father on a much deeper level. I have always known I have the greatest Dad in the world, but it now has a deeper meaning to it. I have been so lucky to grow up in a house with loving parents who truly care for one another. To grow up in a house where the only thing my parents loved more than each other was God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have realized that I am lucky to have a father who was not a member of the church but decided to take it upon himself to learn if this was true or not and as a result of that raised a family in a home centered on Christ. For this reason am I forever grateful. I am grateful for a father who has taught me how to love others, study the scriptures, pray, respect women, to love my mother, and many more things. I think the reason I have been feeling this so strong lately is because in the talk Ministry of Reconciliation by Holland I saw what it could be like to have a father who wasn't strong in his faith. I have no idea what my life would be like without this Gospel or who I would be if I didn't come on my mission. Everything I am and all that I have become is all due to my parents, especially my father. Continually feeling his love has also helped me to better understand the love my Father in Heaven has for me. I love this church and the fact that I will get to live with my family for eternity. I can't imagine my life without my family and the goofballs they are. I know that through this Gospel our family relationships are better and eternal. I am also extremely grateful for a mother who kept strong to her faith for years on her own and was such a strong woman that eventually it all worked out. The woman she is has set the highest of standards for me. I would do anything for that lady and love her without end. She is the best woman in my life and has always been there for me. I honestly just can't say it enough about how much love I have for my parents and the dedication they have to following Christ.
Like I said Elder Holland has really hit me in helping me understand how lucky I am. I love being a missionary. I love being rejected. I love being yelled at and spit at. I love testifying of truth. I love the bad days and down days. I love all of this because I know this work to be true and with truth comes hardship, but because of the people I was raised by and around Hard is Good. Whether or not you have grown up in this church or left it at some point you owe it to yourself to really find out if this is true. We shouldn't look back on our lives and realize we could've been happier the entire time. One thing I can promise is that if you truly want to know if the Book of Mormon is true you can. If you put in the effort one of two things will happen. 1). You will know this church is true and find more joy in your life or 2). You will know it's not true. There no middle ground. Put in the effort and you will never have to wonder what if? Again I leave my testimony with you that this is the true Church of God on the earth today. The Book of Mormon really is another Testament of Jesus Christ. I know with all my heart.
I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Cheers,
Elder Hruby
Bad news first. You probably won't be hearing much about Yasmin anymore because she dropped us on Thursday which was really devastating. It was really hard hearing that and losing her after all the time, effort, and love spent on her, but people still have their agency after all. The bright side is we have been teaching a guy named Nayland with the sisters who is a result of our sports night here! He is looking super solid for Baptism on the 28th! He quit smoking and drinking for over two weeks now. He is such a nice guy and he even brought his 9 year old son to church with him this week! Love that guy.
We were driving out to a village called Ely, which is the most Northern part of our area/mission, to do some stop bys. One of the roads was closed so we tried to navigate around it and our SAT-NAV ended up taking us on some grass road through some private property and then onto some dirt roads as well. Our car got stuck once and not really sure how it made it out in one piece but it was quite the experience!
On Saturday night we had a Dinner to go to with a member, but it was really just a going away party for a member we were invited to. At first it was just us there with a bunch of old ladies and it felt like we were at a book club haha. Eventually a group of Filipinos showed up which made it more fun. Then after we ate the member broke out a Karaoke machine! I was like no way is this happening right now! Sure enough it was a reality! Everybody was singing! The member leaving was from Brazil and she is like 60 and crazy and was like if you love me you will sing, so I couldn't let her down. I sang my go to song for Karaoke... If I ain't Got You by Alicia Keys. She was very happy. Most of the Filipinos there were also nonmembers and loved that we seemed like normal missionaries and the majority of them came to church on Sunday! It was definitely a success and good fun as well.
Elder Hollands talk from General Conference has really left a mark on me. I keep listening to it and I keep thinking the same thing over and over everytime I hear it and that is how much I love and appreciate my family. It goes even deeper than that. It has made me appreciate my father on a much deeper level. I have always known I have the greatest Dad in the world, but it now has a deeper meaning to it. I have been so lucky to grow up in a house with loving parents who truly care for one another. To grow up in a house where the only thing my parents loved more than each other was God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have realized that I am lucky to have a father who was not a member of the church but decided to take it upon himself to learn if this was true or not and as a result of that raised a family in a home centered on Christ. For this reason am I forever grateful. I am grateful for a father who has taught me how to love others, study the scriptures, pray, respect women, to love my mother, and many more things. I think the reason I have been feeling this so strong lately is because in the talk Ministry of Reconciliation by Holland I saw what it could be like to have a father who wasn't strong in his faith. I have no idea what my life would be like without this Gospel or who I would be if I didn't come on my mission. Everything I am and all that I have become is all due to my parents, especially my father. Continually feeling his love has also helped me to better understand the love my Father in Heaven has for me. I love this church and the fact that I will get to live with my family for eternity. I can't imagine my life without my family and the goofballs they are. I know that through this Gospel our family relationships are better and eternal. I am also extremely grateful for a mother who kept strong to her faith for years on her own and was such a strong woman that eventually it all worked out. The woman she is has set the highest of standards for me. I would do anything for that lady and love her without end. She is the best woman in my life and has always been there for me. I honestly just can't say it enough about how much love I have for my parents and the dedication they have to following Christ.
Like I said Elder Holland has really hit me in helping me understand how lucky I am. I love being a missionary. I love being rejected. I love being yelled at and spit at. I love testifying of truth. I love the bad days and down days. I love all of this because I know this work to be true and with truth comes hardship, but because of the people I was raised by and around Hard is Good. Whether or not you have grown up in this church or left it at some point you owe it to yourself to really find out if this is true. We shouldn't look back on our lives and realize we could've been happier the entire time. One thing I can promise is that if you truly want to know if the Book of Mormon is true you can. If you put in the effort one of two things will happen. 1). You will know this church is true and find more joy in your life or 2). You will know it's not true. There no middle ground. Put in the effort and you will never have to wonder what if? Again I leave my testimony with you that this is the true Church of God on the earth today. The Book of Mormon really is another Testament of Jesus Christ. I know with all my heart.
I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Cheers,
Elder Hruby
Week 35: Still alive but I'm barely breathing (Cambridge)
It's been a wild week that felt like it took forever! Last week seems like it was forever ago!
So Tuesday I was on exchange with elder Blyel. He's such a stud and fun to be around. He's from Virginia and a beast volleyball player. We started Tuesday off with a good pump at the gym. I'm proud to say I was still able to rep 255 for 5 reps so haven't gotten too weak! We had an awesome lunch with the ysa Morgan at a Chinese buffet. It was so good! We went and did some street contacting after and found some new friends we should be seeing this week. We also had district meeting that night at our new Senior couples place the Calls. We talked a lot about the christ like attribute of patience and how much and change our lives. We had dinner after and it was so hard to force food down because we were still stuffed after the lunch. Then it was off to ward council which I've learned in England are so weird. Every time I feel so uncomfortable but it's all part of the experience haha!
On Wednesday we did some service for a less active and cleaned up her garden. Afterwards we met with a guy who had met with missionaries years ago and met with them a bunch. He was such a nice guy. He actually took us to brunch which was super cool. He's a very spiritual guy and knows a lot about the church. We'll see what happens with Ronald in the future... Then we headed off to Bury to work in their area with them. Elder Allen in Bury was pretty sick so we were trying to help out. We actually ended the night with a fire in the back garden and had tin foil dinners like we were back in scouts. It was so much fun and a good night with the boyzzzz!
We did more work in Bury thursday and then had a rare DA with an American family, the Armstrongs, who are also a military family. Have 5 young ones so it's pretty chaotic but a great time around them.
Friday is where the fun happened. We met with Yasmin and had sports night, but at the end of sports night I sprained the crap out of my ankle. Right as it happened I actually thought it was broken and was pretty worried that night and the next day. On Saturday I couldn't put any weight on it at all and was super swollen. Now I'm walking pretty good it's just black and blue and super swollen. It's all good times though because I'm just trying to make those memories - don't worry I'm still surviving!
That brings us to General conference... Wow it just gets better and better. I've learned to love General Conference and look forward to it so much as a missionary! The spirit felt and the messages given are so inspired I love it so much. I loved them all so much but especially elder Holland. He was also rocking some new glasses which was a plus. President Nelson is just amazing as well. Every time he gets up I'm expecting something big now! I'm headed to the watch the Sunday afternoon session tonight so I look forward to that!
Love hearing your insights and look forward to studying these talks in the weeks to come! I have the best friends and family ever <3️️
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| Ankle sprain |
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| Backyard dinner with the Bury Boyz |
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| Friday Night Sports Night at the church! |
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Week 34: 2,000 miles in a month (Cambridge)
Well we sent in our miles for our car this month and we literally drove just about 2000 miles this month! Man we have to travel so much it's incredible. I love it though and it allows for a lot of good Jam sessions that's for sure!
Let's see the highlights from this week include going to Hyde Park on Wednesday for zone Conference, interviews, and volleyball.
So zone conferences are always so great because you get to see many other missionaries, be with president and sister Checketts, and be spiritually uplifted! We talked a lot about purifying ourselves to be worthy of the blessings the lord wants to pour out to us. It was a wonderful meeting. That evening while we were traveling home one of the tube lines was on strike so traveling underground was a nightmare. We were stuck for over an hour and it was so hot under there. Good memories
Friday we drove to Colchester for interviews. Again it's great to be with our zone and the Checketts. I love them so much and they are the best. They just make everyone feel so loved and important. We had a testimony meeting at the end and I bore my testimony about how we are here to find our best friends from the pre earth life who didn't have the same opportunity that we do of having the gospel. I truly know that we are sent to certain places to find certain people who will only accept the gospel from us at that time. It's all by divine design!
On Saturday we went and watched Morgan's, a new ysa in the ward, volleyball game. It was the funniest thing ever. It's basically like an old woman league and brought so many laughs and smiles haha. Also Saturday evening we went and helped Yasmin out in her garden weeding it for her because they are moving flats. She has so many stuglles in her life such as depression and a bloof disease that causes her to be very tired as well, but she just loves us and the sisters and being around us. She's very serious about finding the truth, but wants to read the entire book of Mormon first. She's reading but very slowly which is frustrating... She'll find out sooner than that I know it!
That leads us to this week! The only thing on my mind for this upcoming week is conference! I'm so excited to hear from the leaders of the church and the revelation that will be had. I can't wait! You truly gain an appreciation for conference on your mission! I hope you all get the chance to watch conference and promise that it will give you answers to questions you have! That's for everyone!
Well I love you all and look forward to hearing your insights from conference next week! Have a splendid week! Cheers
Let's see the highlights from this week include going to Hyde Park on Wednesday for zone Conference, interviews, and volleyball.
So zone conferences are always so great because you get to see many other missionaries, be with president and sister Checketts, and be spiritually uplifted! We talked a lot about purifying ourselves to be worthy of the blessings the lord wants to pour out to us. It was a wonderful meeting. That evening while we were traveling home one of the tube lines was on strike so traveling underground was a nightmare. We were stuck for over an hour and it was so hot under there. Good memories
Friday we drove to Colchester for interviews. Again it's great to be with our zone and the Checketts. I love them so much and they are the best. They just make everyone feel so loved and important. We had a testimony meeting at the end and I bore my testimony about how we are here to find our best friends from the pre earth life who didn't have the same opportunity that we do of having the gospel. I truly know that we are sent to certain places to find certain people who will only accept the gospel from us at that time. It's all by divine design!
On Saturday we went and watched Morgan's, a new ysa in the ward, volleyball game. It was the funniest thing ever. It's basically like an old woman league and brought so many laughs and smiles haha. Also Saturday evening we went and helped Yasmin out in her garden weeding it for her because they are moving flats. She has so many stuglles in her life such as depression and a bloof disease that causes her to be very tired as well, but she just loves us and the sisters and being around us. She's very serious about finding the truth, but wants to read the entire book of Mormon first. She's reading but very slowly which is frustrating... She'll find out sooner than that I know it!
That leads us to this week! The only thing on my mind for this upcoming week is conference! I'm so excited to hear from the leaders of the church and the revelation that will be had. I can't wait! You truly gain an appreciation for conference on your mission! I hope you all get the chance to watch conference and promise that it will give you answers to questions you have! That's for everyone!
Well I love you all and look forward to hearing your insights from conference next week! Have a splendid week! Cheers
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